Mail.com to Acquire Swift Telecommunications in $84M Deal

February 8, 2001

Messaging services provider Mail.com said yesterday that it will acquire Swift Telecommunications Inc. in a deal worth $83.6 million in cash and stock. The transaction is expected to close within two weeks.

Concurrent with its acquisition by Mail.com, Swift Telecommunications, a provider of international business messaging services, said it acquired the EasyLink Services division of AT&T Corp. for more than $50 million.

As part of its acquisition deal with Swift, Mail.com advanced the company a $14 million loan to help pay for its EasyLink acquisition. Mail.com, New York, also said it will assume a $35 million note issued to AT&T in that deal.

Under terms of the Swift Telecommunications acquisition, Mail.com will pay nearly $835,000 in cash to George Abi Zeid, president and sole shareholder of Swift. It also will issue an unsecured note for nearly $9.2 million and nearly 19 million shares of Mail.com Class A common stock to Zeid.

In addition, Mail.com will reimburse Zeid for a $1.5 million advance made to Swift to fund a portion of the EasyLink Services deal with AT&T.

Mail.com said that as part of its acquisition of Swift, it will acquire Telecom International Inc., a Swift affiliate that operates as AlphaTel, and will take a 25 percent minority interest in two Swift subsidiaries for about $6.5 million in cash and stock.